In our tenth episode, host Benjamin Ballinger sat down with Grant Schuster, the co-founder and CEO of Accelerant Holding, a PAAS (production-as-a-service) company specializing in pre-roll manufacturing for the cannabis industry.

Prior to founding the company, Grant helped build Curio Wellness in MD over the course of 4 years as the Director of Lean Manufacturing and Supply Chain, after which he went on to oversee the manufacturing division at Parallel.

These experiences, along with his prior background in culinary spice manufacturing have given Grant a strong foundation on which to build his new, revolutionary company.

For the episode notes, transcript, and linked resources, please visit ⁠https://podcast.diamondminers.co/episode-10/

In our ninth episode, host Benjamin Ballinger sat down with Samantha Robinson, the Chief Operating Officer of Santa Fe, NM-based vertically-integrated cannabis operator Best Daze.

Samantha, an accountant by trade, joined this family-run operation earlier this year as the head of operations, after having provided them with accounting services as a client of her firm. During her tenure with the company, she has leveraged her financial and at-scale operations background in other industries to bring tried and true best practices to Best Daze, allowing them to continue their growth while improving operational efficiencies, quality management, and consistency.

In this episode, we explore the challenges Samantha and her team have faced with maintaining an "access-to-the-underserved" focus as a company, while also expanding their footprint across the state, as well as the unique relationship between the slower-moving culture in the state and the rapid pace that the cannabis industry often demands.

Samantha also talks about how strategic partnerships with out-of-state brands—like Old Pal—have been advantageous for growing the manufacturing side of their business.

For the episode notes, transcript, and linked resources, please visit https://podcast.diamondminers.co/episode-9/

In our eighth episode, host Benjamin Ballinger sat down with Nathan Russell and Ben Richards, the owners of the cannabis packaging company formerly known as CUSTOMPACKCO (now a subsidiary of AE Global), as well as the Michigan-based cannabis processor The Lab, and innovative pre-roll brand Road Trip.

In addition to running their production facility like a well-oiled, lean manufacturing machine, Nate and Ben are vocal proponents of regulatory reform in the state, particularly regarding the newest regulation updates proposed by Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

The duo has managed to win on several fronts—successfully selling controlling interest in their packaging company, launching their pre-roll brand into some of the biggest dispensary chains in the state, and growing their co-production facility to become one of the top pre-roll producers in Michigan.

In this episode, we dive deep into the strategic decisions Nate and Ben made to stay non-vertically integrated, the importance of operating with lean principles, and why more cannabis operators need to get involved in their state's regulatory conversations.

For the episode notes, transcript, and linked resources, please visit ⁠https://podcast.diamondminers.co/episode-8/